On the alleged marriage of Imam 'Ali's ('a) daughter to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab

Posted: June 19, 2005

From: MA <[email protected]>

Subject: Clarification

Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 18:54:22 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Brother in Islam,

Assalamu alaikum...

Bro, I just want to be clarified regarding these conflicting historical positions with regards to the two daughters of Imam Ali (as). One position is that his two daughters named Umm Khultom & Roqaya (I'm not sure about the exact names) were married to 'Umar and Uthman respectively. The second position is that the two daughters of Imam Ali (as) were never married to the two aged Caliphs but were married rather to their relatives - the two sons of Abbas, namely Abdullah and Obaidullah.

Hope you can help me to clarify these issues... Thank you...

Wassalam...

MA

To: MA <[email protected]>

Subject: On the alleged marriage of Imam 'Ali's ('a) two daughters to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and 'Uthman ibn al-'Affan

Date: June 19, 2005

Wa 'alaykum as-salam, Brother MA:

Who was Umm Kulthum the wife of 'Umar?

Fact 1
* Sunni historical evidence shows that the marriage of Umm Kulthum and Umar ibn al-Khattab took place in the year 17 Hijri when Umm Kulthum was 5 or 4 years of age. This would put her date of birth to 12 or 13 Hijri.

Sunni references :
- History of Abu'l-Fida, vol. I, p. 171
- Al-Faruq by Shibli Nu'mani, vol. II, p. 539

* Historical evidences show that Hadrat Fatimah ('a) passed away 6 month after the demise of his father, and thus her date of death was in the year 11 Hijri, and that Umm Kulthum were born in the year 9 Hijri.

Sunni reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English Version, Tradition 5.546
Shia reference: Anwar al-Husayniyyah, vol. 3, p. 39

Then how is it possible for Umm Kulthum to be born after the death of Hadrat Fatimah ('a) if the Sunnis claim that she was married to 'Umar in the year 17 Hijri at an age of 4 or 5 years, that would put the date of birth as 12 or 13 Hijri, which is long after the death of her mother?!

Fact 2
* Sunni historical evidence shows that Umm Kulthum (the wife of 'Umar) died before 50 Hijri, since Imam Hasan ('a), 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar and Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqas offered the funeral prayers. Also it is worthy to note that Imam Hasan ('a) was martyred in the year 50 Hijri.

Sunni references:
- Al Isti'ab by Ibn Abdul-Barr, vol. 2, p. 795
- Tarikh al-Khamis vol. II, p. 318
- History of al-Tabari, vol. 12. p. 15

But then other references show that Hadrat Umm Kulthum (blessings on her, the daughter of Imam 'Ali and Fatimah az-Zahra) were present in Karbala during the year 61 Hijri. Long after the incident of Karbala, Hadrat Zaynab bint 'Ali (blessings on her) died, then it was that Hadrat 'Abdullah ibn
Ja'far ibn Abi Talib at-Tayyar were married to Hadrat Umm Kulthum bint 'Ali (blessings on her).

There is no contradiction to the fact that before Umm Kulthum bint 'Ali (blessings on her), Hadrat Zaynab (blessings on her) were married to 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far (blessings on him). Also it is true that till the year 61 Hijri ( incident of Karbala) Hadrat Zaynab were alive, and that Umm Kulthum bint 'Ali were married after the year 61 Hijri to Hadrat 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far.

But where does the contradiction lie? With respect to the first references, the lady married to 'Umar by the name Umm Kulthum died in the year before 50 Hijri, as Imam Hasan ('a) had offered her funeral prayers. This leaves us to believe that the Umm Kulthum married to 'Umar were in fact
some other lady and NOT the daughter of Imam 'Ali ('a).

Sunni references :
- Rawdah al-Ihbab, vol. 3, p. 585
- Al Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah
- Tarikh al-Khamis, vol. 3, p. 318

Fact 3
* The Sunni scholar Ibn Qutaybah in his book "Al-Ma'arif" mentioned that all the daughters of Imam 'Ali ('a) were married to the sons of 'Aqil and 'Abbas with a few exceptions, but he did NOT mention the claim that Umm Kulthum (may Allah bless her) were married to 'Umar. The exceptions were
for Umm al-Hasan bint Sa'id and Fatimah.

Sunni reference: Al-Ma'arif by Ibn Qutaybah, p. 80

For those who claim that such marriage happened; kindly answer the following questions:
- What was the age for 'Umar at the time of the marriage?
- When 'Umar died what was the age of Umm Kulthum?
- Could you briefly state the names of the wives of 'Umar?
- Could you assert to the truthfulness of the character of the person who narrated this story (i.e., Zubayr ibn Bakar)?
- Do you know how many children were born of Umm Kulthum with the marriage to 'Umar?

Who was this Umm Kulthum then?
It would be appropriate to mention the other wives of 'Umar at this juncture, not only during his pagan days but also after embracing Islam.

His first wife was Zaynab sister of 'Uthman ibn Mazun. His second wife was Qaribah, daughter of Ibn Umayt al-Makzami, and sister of the Holy Prophet's (s) wife Umm Salmah (may Allah be pleased with her ). She was divorced in 6 AH after the conclusion of the Truce of Hudaybiyyah. His third wife was Malaykah, daughter of Jar al-Khuza'i, who was also called Umm Kulthum, also she did not embrace Islam and was divorced in 6 AH.

On arrival at Medinah he married Jamilah, daughter of Asim ibn Thabit who was high placed Ansari and had fought at Badr. Jamilah's first name was Asia which the Holy Prophet (s) changed to Jamilah on her conversion to Islam. 'Umar divorced her also for some unknown reason.

'Umar also had other wives namely, Umm Hakim, daughter of al-Harith ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, Fukhia Yamania and Atika, daughter of Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nafil.

Sunni reference: Al-Faruq - Volume II by Shibli Nu'mani, English Translation, Pages 340-343, Chapter XIX (His Family)

It is worthy to note that the author, Shibli Nu'mani has easily ignored the daughter of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr. This would explain that truly Umm Kulthum who was married to 'Umar was not the daughter of Imam 'Ali, as the correct historical references show, but the daughter of Abu Bakr.

It is also worthy to mention the footnotes that have been included when Shibli Nu'mani claims about the marriage of Umm Kulthum bint 'Ali (may Allah be well pleased with her) in the above chapter. It states:

"...There was another Umm Kulthum who had been his wife but historians make a clear distinction between the two..."

Now, the following questions may be posed:

- Who is this other Umm Kulthum that has been mentioned in the historical references?
- Is she the same Umm Kulthum that was divorced (Malaykah the third wife) in 6 AH?
- We also know that there were  two ' Umm Kulthum's as Shibli Nu'mani writes above, correct?
- Or is she the same Umm Kulthum that is the daughter of Abu Bakr? If yes then why doesn't the author point out so? What is the clear distinction then?

Here is the answer from historical documents:

After the death of Abu Bakr, a daughter was born to him that was named Umm Kulthum. Please refer to the following Sunni references to confirm this fact.

Sunni references:
- History of al-Tabari, Volume 3, page 50, Printed in Egypt
- Tarikh al-Kamil, Volume 3, page 121, Printed in Egypt
- Tarikh al-Khamis, Volume 2, page 267, Printed in Egypt
- Al-Isabah, by Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, Volume 3, page 27

It is also to be noted that Abu Bakr died in the year 13 AH as mentioned in the following Sunni book of reference:

- History of the Caliphs by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, page 551, Translated into English by Major H. S. Barrett

This would imply that the original claim made by the first references I gave for the age of Umm Kulthum at the time of marriage of 4 or 5 years would stand correct. Since for Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr to be born in 13 AH and married in 17 AH would give her an age of 4 years.

Since A'ishah was the elder sister of Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr, for this reason 'Umar had sent for Umm Kulthum hand's to A'ishah, and A'ishah had accepted this. Please refer to the following Sunni references:

- Tarikh al-Khamis, Volume 2, page 267, Printed in Egypt
- Tarikh al-Kamil, Volume 3, page 21, Printed in Egypt
- Al-Isti'ab by Ibn 'Abdul-Barr, Volume 2, page 795, Printed in Hyderabad Deccan

This leaves us no doubt to believe that Umm Kulthum who was the daughter of Abu Bakr was married to 'Umar and not Umm Kulthum the daughter of Imam 'Ali ('a)!